The Untold and Other Stories
by Marmellatamae
Summary: "They think Sirius is cute?" he asks Remus "I mean, he was eating his own socks yesterday" he adds, matter-of-factly. This is simply a collection of small slices of life spanning from the 70's to the 80's. Marauders and Black family mostly, with no chronological -or logical- order. I will be probably publishing it in Italian as well.
1. Chapter 1

**Girls**

The first time they really notice that Sirius is quite handsome they are simply eating breakfast. Remus is revising his Transfiguration's notes, because, really somebody has to gain back all the points his friends are losing to Gryffindor. It's also, incidentally, Valentine's day, but they are barely thirteen and they are the Marauders and they don't really care.

James and Sirius are snickering about something stupid and Peter is striving to intervene in their conversation, his mouth full of bacon. Remus cannot help but sympathize with Evans's disgusted look.

Nobody really notices the blonde Hufflepuff girl approaching their table. She is flustered, the ghost of a laughter still on her lips and she keeps looking back at her own house table gesturing wildly at a pack of snickering girls. Remus shivers at the sight. _Girls,_ he thinks. Girls are way scarier than that time James convinced him to come and play Quidditch with them.

"Umh, Sirius?" the girl asks, smiling openly. Sirius looks at her confusingly. He frowns and Remus can tell he is trying to remember what prank he may have pulled on this particular girl. _Hufflepuff_ , he almost reads his mind. Sirius always says Hufflepuff are simply boring, with a very aristocratic snort that makes Remus think that he would have made a great Slytherin indeed.

"You see, my friend there thinks you are… cute" she explains before Sirius even has the chance of saying something smart. Sirius' mouth drops open and James bursts into laugher. Lily Evans rolls her eyes muttering something to her friend Mary. Mary laughs and mutters something back that to Remus' ears sounds dangerously as "But he _is_ cute".

"Oh" it's the only thing that Sirius manages to answer and Remus can tell he is forcing himself not to look at James for support "Well, thanks" he adds, a ghost of his arrogance kicking back.

"She's timid, but she has made you this postcard" the girl continues, handing a very pink note that Sirius eyes suspiciously.

"There are _hearts_ on it" James comments and laughs even harder when both Sirius and Evans kick him under the table.

"Potter here is just jealous" Sirius answers darkly, accepting the card "Well, thanks and everything but we have to go" he adds standing up before somebody catches him blushing. Remus is a bit startled and Peter has his still full mouth open.

"They think Sisius is _cute_?" he asks Remus "I mean, he was eating his own socks yesterday" he adds, matter-of-factly. Remus does not know what to answer. He laughed at Sirius trying to eat his own socks, but he must admit that some girls may find handsome his black hair, storming grey eyes and, well, features. That is, if you are a girl. Of course, tons of Pureblood girls have batted their eyelashes in front of Sirius before, and have smiled fondly to him; Gryffindor or not, _he is still the Blacks' heir and he will have to marry someday_.

But that was simply because of his status and family fortune; Sirius could have been a goblin and they would have smiled to him anyway. And, besides, every year less and less Slytherin girls smile to him or try to catch his attention stating their surnames. _Blood-traitor_ is what Remus hears them whispering in the corridors when they pass, these days.

Before the day ends, Sirius collects five different Valentine cards from Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. James laughs at every of them, quoting the cheesiest passages of each one.

" _Your surname may be Black, but your eyes are as grey as the sea in tempest"_ James sobs falling into his bed, laughing madly. Peter laughs, too. This is what he likes about James; he makes everything seem light and easy and laughable. If it wasn't for James, Peter would have felt the disappointment of not receiving any Valentine's card. But with James, everything is just so easy to laugh at.

"You are just jealous, Potter" Sirius keeps saying annoyed, but Remus cannot help but think that he is a bit flattered. Girls actually like Sirius, not because he is Black, but despite it. It's the first time somebody accepts, even likes, Sirius for what he is –aside from the Marauders.

The next day, he catches Sirius studying his reflection in the mirror.

Remus is not particularly happy with it, but he is not really sure why.

 **The Sorting**

" _Black, Sirius"_ McGonagall calls and Andromeda, almost despite herself, jerks her head up. She follows her cousin's figure as he walks down the aisle. She is painfully aware of the sudden silence at the Slytherin table –everybody is staring excitedly as Sirius seats down and McGonagall press the Sorting Hat on his hair.

Narcissa smiles fondly at her, holding hands with her soon-to-be husband; her smiles doesn't falter, not even when the Sorting is not finished yet, not even when it has already lasted longer than any of the Blacks' put together.

When the Hat shouts " _Gryffindor!",_ Andromeda's mouth is full open in a very un-lady, un-Black like, her education and good manners forgotten. She watches Sirius giving the Sorting Hat back to McGonagall as the Gryffindor table explodes with cheering and clapping. She can't see her cousin's face; she doesn't know if he worried, angry, happy or –knowing Sirius- excited. She can only think stupidly that the heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black has just been sorted into Gryffindor and that maybe, maybe she and Ted Tonks will be paired up in Potions as last year.

She locks eyes with Narcissa; her sister is still smiling, her composure befitting her status.

(Andromeda knows that Narcissa is a better daughter and a better Black than she will ever be)

 **Muggleborn**

Sirius isn't very sure that all the purity and non-purity debate his mother is so obsessed with is true. The reality is that he doesn't really care; not now, not when he is eleven and he has a whole new castle to explore and James Potter is such a mastermind of mischief.

Still, when Lily Evans manages to levitate her quill only at the third attempt, he is taken aback. Sirius knows she is a muggleborn and yet, she can do exactly what Sirius can do. She is even better than him in portions! And Sirius knows he is pretty _talented_ even for Purebloods' standard.

He shifts uncomfortably.

"What's up, mate?" James asks jovially, his eyes wide open with excitement; Sirius can tell that he is thinking of the whole new range of pranking possibilities that the Wingardium Leviosa spell opens up.

"Evans" Sirius explains "She is a mu- a muggleborn, right?" he corrects himself quickly. He is young and really not interested in politics, but he suspects that James and his family are part of those "stupid liberals" and "muggle-lovers" his father mutters about at breakfast.

"Yeah" James answers simply; he is still smiling and trying to act nonchalantly, but his expression is suddenly, strangely, hard. Sirius is almost tempted to drop the subject; after all, James is the only friend he has in Hogwarts and all the people he already knew are –well, even if he _did_ like them, they are a bit pissed off for his Sorting.

"Right" he says, deciding against his best interest. He is curious and he wants to know what James thinks and screw the consequences. "Well, I didn't expect her to be that good" he breaths.

"Really?" James's smile falters a little this time.

"I mean… My family… Mother always says that Mudb- Muggleborn, sorry, are…"

"Not as good as Purebloods?"

"Yeah"

James pushes his glasses up his nose and stares at him intently – a gesture that Sirius will come to recognize as the premise to a serious talk.

"Do you agree with her?"

The question startles Sirius a bit. Nobody really asks him what _he_ thinks. He is a Black, the male heir of the Household and title, it is pretty obvious what he should say or think; nobody has ever bothered questioning it.

"No, I don't really agree with her"

James' smile grows open and solar once again: "Brilliant" he states "I _knew_ you were ok"

Sirius grins back "So, what about practicing Charms? On old Snivelly's pants that is"

"I like your thinking, Black"

 **Death**

James pales suddenly, swallowing slowly. He is still holding the _Phoenix,_ the clandestine newspaper the whole resistance reads. They started reading it to keep informed about the most recent deaths, deaths that the _Prophet_ passes off as natural or unexpected deceases or blatantly ignores. The good thing about the Phoenix is that it publishes the name of the dead in the very front page, so you don't have to skim-read the whole to thing to know if your friends and family are still alive.

It also publishes the names of Death Eaters, thought, and it reports their deaths as well as their killing.

Sirius enters Apparates in their shared apartment, an extinguished cigarette pending between his lips. He looks content enough and James feels his stomach drop, guessing that Sirius has not read the newspaper. He keeps saying that it is unhealthy that James is so obsessed with it; but that's Sirius way of dealing with difficult things. If he cannot do anything practical about it, he doesn't want to know.

 _(He also cries every time he opens the fucking thing)_

"Hey, Prongsie" he salutes "Do you mind if I smoke? It has been a long night..." he lights up his cigarette without waiting for permission and he is about to tell James everything about his night out with Moody and his Auror training and how they managed to escape from his crazy cousin. Then, he notices the expression on his best friend's face and the _Phoenix_ in his hands.

"What's up?" he says with a small laugh, his heart starting to race. _Remus,_ he thinks.

James gets up and that's when Sirius notices that it is the Death Eaters' page.

He snatches the newspaper from James' hands, biting his lower lip.

"Padfoot" James whispers "I am sorry"

"Shouldn't be" Sirius cracks "That's minus one"

"You don't mean it"

Sirius has to fight the urge to punch his best friend. What does he want him to say? That he cannot read that bloody newspaper because he might cry over the deaths of their mortal enemies? That he was afraid that this day would have come, that he would open the newspaper and that he would read Regulus' name on it?

"He was stupid" he says at last, trying not to cry.

 _I can't go to the funeral._

James hugs him and that's ok. A few days later, Lily will tell him that she is pregnant and he they will hug again, both on the verge of tears because, this is big, mate, and we have always lived together and now you will have a baby and just ask Remus to move in, already.

 _I hate them all._ Except there is almost nobody left to hate.

A few days later, Sirius receives a letter. As the last of Blacks, he will inherit the whole fortune, title and Grimmauld Place, at his mother's death.

 _The last of Blacks._

He burns the letter with a muggle lighter.

 **This is my first attempt at writing about Harry Potter in English. I really love the marauders' era and my idea is to build a whole story trough slices of life. They won't be in chronological order and always dealing with a different character, but I think the timeline will be pretty clear :) Every piece can be read as standalone and every chapter as well :)**

 **Hope you liked it.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Lily I**

The first time Lily Evans is aware of James Potter's existence she doesn't even know his name, but she is pretty sure he is prat. He thinks he knows everything and he's probably even worse than the other dark-haired boy who made fun of Severus. _Gryffindor,_ she thinks spitefully. If making to Gryffindor means sharing the Common Room with an idiot like Potter she really hopes she will be Sorted in Slytherin as Severus wants.

 **McGonagall**

Minerva McGonagall is not sure who is it worse, Potter or Black.

True enough, at first she felt it was her duty to protect Sirius –the heir to the most prominent of the 28 families- in his journey in Gryffindor. She had met the boy's stare when he had returned the Sorting Hat to her and she had spotted fear and confusion and a glint of something she will later come to recognize as _Marauders._ She had feared for the boy; she had feared his family's rage and, most of all, that he would not have been accepted among his fellow Gryffindors. At first, she had been glad to watch James Potter coming to sit next to Sirius and sharing a wide grin with him.

 _Boys,_ she had thought, almost affectionaly.

Naturally, it had only taken a week to make her regret that thought. Potter and Black. Her personal nightmares.

Potter, of course, is as mad as hatter as his own father was and Minerva remembers Fleamont Potter's crazy stunts from when they were classmates. Sometimes, she has a feeling that James will simply be much worse than his father, but she is anyway glad that to have Potter in her House.

True, as Minerva shouts " _Black! Potter!"_ panting after the two snickering twelve-year-old "You will get detention until your O.W.L.s are over!" she feels like retiring or killing the two boys.

Anyway, the boys are brilliant in Transfiguration and she cannot help but smile when she watches them together, frowning and plotting and laughing. It's a sight that makes her hope for the future of the Wizarding World; a blood-traitor and a Black, mates for life.

Naturally, she will kill them off before Black can even inherit the title, and James can enter the Quidditch team he is so obsessed with, but that's a completely else matter.

" _Boys_ " she says, still panting, her lips dangerously thin "Who put the Lassie Lassative Laughing Lysanders in the Slytherins breakfast?"

Sirius lifts his chin defiantly, his grey eyes sparkling with crazy joy and Minerva shivers reminding a similar conversation with Miss Bellatrix Black and her habit to hex Muggle-Borns during breakfast.

 _Blood is blood_ , she thinks sadly.

But then Potter speaks and Sirius has to lower his gaze, his young body shaking with the laughter he is comically trying to suppress.

"We did it in their best interest! You see, they are so uptight that if they were just able to get that broom out of their…"

" _Potter!_ " Minerva warns.

"But Professor!" this time is Black who protests and Minerva stares at him curiously for a fraction of second; all the aristocratic arrogance is gone from his expression and any resemblance with Bellatrix Black is nothing more than a ghost, some high cheekbones and black hair. His smirk is so much Potter that Minerva feels hope once again. "James is right! You see, my cousin Narcissa has always her nose up because she smells all of the fart-"

"MR. BLACK" she shouts this time, while Potter finally bursts into laughter "I've had enough! Double detention for two weeks and thirty points from Gryffindor!"

Some hours later, Minerva is still fuming with rage and she is glaring intently at her dinner, as if Potter or Black were capable to change the flavor of the stew.

(She is actually pretty sure they could).

"Minerva" says Dumbledore amiably "You don't like the stew?"

Albus is smirking in such a way that now McGonagall is really convinced that Black and Potter _did_ change the flavor of her stew in some vomit-tasting thing.

"Potter and Black are going to kill us both or make us prematurely retire" she retorts spitefully "That is, if I don't expel them _first._ "

Albus lets out a small laugh "And yet" he says gently "They are such a happy, funny, group"

Minerva follows his gaze and sees them, Potter and Black and it takes her a whole second to notice that Remus Lupin is seating between the two laughing friends. Remus is saying something, witty probably because she spots Black letting out a full laughter and patting the other boy's back. Lupin gives him a wide smile and Minerva cannot help but grin herself.

She wonders if Black knows Lupin's secret and if he doesn't if he would be so willing to be his friend if he knew. She watches as Potter adds something, gesticulating wildly, and the three friends laugh even harder. Pettigrew comes to sit next to Potter, a tired expression plastered on his face, and Minerva is surprised once again when Potter starts filling Peter's plate with the same stew that she really doesn't feel like eating.

Peter smiles surprised and smiles even wider when Black greets him with a small touch on his forearm.

 _Boys,_ Minerva thinks once again.

"Indeed" she tells Albus. This time she openly smiles.

 **Lily III**

Lily hates Potter even more when she actually gets to _know_ him.

She hates him because he walks around as if he owns the castle, as if he is the king of Gryffindor and every last of them is his fucking servant. It gets even worse when he makes to the Quidditch team; now he thinks he is better than anyone else just because he is able to catch a stupid ball four times a year.

But what infuriates her most is the way everything comes so easy to him. He doesn't need to study –no, he is a Pureblood, after all- magic just _happens_ for him. Potter is even worse than Black –not that Lily doesn't hate him as well, the only person she really loathes, aside from Potter, being Black. At least, Black doesn't even pretend to be surprised when he performs the most complicated charms with a bored grin, as if they were a piece of cake for him.

"Ehy Evans" Potter salutes her with a wide grin "How's your greasy boyfriend?"

Lily is about to cast him a nasty spell, when she spots Remus's apologetic smile.

"Don't be silly, Prongs" the prince-of-Purebloods interjects "Old Snivelly doesn't have time for birds, not when dear old Malfoy is around!"

The hex is so powerful that both Potter and Black have to skip the afternoon classes to recover in the Medical Wing.

Lily is almost ashamed of her actions. They both deserved it and, besides, it really pains her to see Severus spending so much time with Head Boy Malfoy, someone who thinks that Lily's very existence is a shame for the Wizarding kind. But she is not one to break rules and hexing classmates is never justifiable.

" _Evans_ " McGonagall says with a hard look "I am very disappointed in you"

"I am very sorry, Professor" Lily murmurs, lowering her gaze.

"That will be ten points from Gryffindor, young lady"

Lily feels her cheeks reddening and hopes McGonagall won't notice her attempt to become as small as she can.

"A Bat-Boogey Hex, eh, Miss Evans?"

Lily stares at the professor for a long moment and then she nods tentatively.

McGonagall seems to consider her for a while, a curious expression on her face.

"Five points to Gryffindor for the perfect execution of the spell" she declares "I am sure Professor Flitwick would be as impressed as I am to see such a young witch performing such a difficult spell"

Lily's jaw drops and her green eyes are wide open. Five points? Flitwick?

"And" McGonagall stares into her eyes intently, apparently feeling no emotion "Five points for your perfect aim, that is five points for Potter and five points for Black"

Lily opens her mouth but she is still incapable of producing any sound.

"I cannot hex them myself, Miss Evans" McGonagall explains briskly even if Lily can spot the ghost of a smile forming on her lips "Now, go, before I change my mind and give you detention".

 **Padfoot or Lily VII**

Lily tries to cast James a scornful look when he throws himself on Remus' sorry figure, howling "Mooooony", but maybe she is too tipsy to react properly. Her boyfriend is very drunk and Remus is moving too carefully to be completely sober. The only one who seems to be really holding it together is Sirius, but then again she _is_ tipsy and the Marauders are never completely _normal_ by any standard.

She even snickers when Lupin replies "Now I really regret becoming your friend, you stupid Pureblood"

"Blood-traitor" Sirius corrects with a smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes. The marauders laugh darkly but Lily is suddenly very conscious of the Black boy's proximity and when she meets his eyes she has to fight the urge to lower her gaze.

To her surprise, it is Sirius the first to break the eye contact. "Don't take it as an offence" he says, sounding almost sheepish "We… We have to laugh about these stuff, don't we?"

He looks at her again and it takes some time for her to realize that he intended it as a sentence and not quite as question as it sounded. Yes, Lily thinks humorlessly, we have to laugh about these stuff, and how bad the world is, and the fact that _they_ want to kill me and you and James and Remus and the reality is cold and frightening out there, and there is a war going on and…

"Don't worry, Black" she says mockingly "I am a tough girl" she adds grimly, thinking of all the times she has been called Mud-Blood, and how it had hurt every single time, no matter how much she told herself that they were only stupid Slytherins. _And how it had broken her heart to hear that world escaping from Severus' lips._

"Of course you are" Sirius says sincerely "Or you wouldn't be able to put up with James" he adds, with a grin. As if to prove his point, James takes the bottle of Firewisky they had been drinking all night and finishes it with satisfied expression. " _To the N.E.W.T.s"_ he cheers, holding the finished bottle as if it was a sword and Lily chuckles, remembering an eleven-year old James making the same exact gesture on the Hogwarts Express almost eight years before. _Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart, like my dad._

(Lily has never felt less a Gryffindor like right now).

"You are a great witch, Evans" Sirius whispers suddenly and Lily knows that he is as drunk as James is, because he has been calling her 'Lily' since she and his best mate got together.

"I know" she says. _Not quite as good as you are_ , she thinks.

"No, you don't know" Sirius retorts and he must be, really, really, intoxicated because since Lily and James have started dating, he has tried to keep his shit together, but he has never been close to the girl, not like Remus who is always gentle or Peter who always makes her laugh. Sirius has been cordial and polite enough, but he is _James's_ and it's not like it made any sense to become Lily's friend.

Not until a bottle of Firewisky ago.

"You think me and James are better than you because we are Pureblood" he blurts out fervently.

"James and I" she corrects him, incapable of a producing a decent answer.

"Whatever" he shrugs dismissively, even if cannot believe he made an actual grammar mistake "But you are not, you are great and you are better at potions than me and Prongs put together"

"I know" she whispers again, her cheeks flushing with sudden pride.

"No you don't…" Sirius repeats "Look, everybody thinks that it was James who skewed my path and brought me to become the disgrace of the name of Blacks' and the run-away-heir and…" he stops, eyes wide with sudden fear, because it's not likely for Sirius to open so much about his situation as the disowned Black, let alone with Evans. "But it was you" he concludes simply, getting finally to the point.

"Me?" Lily asks, eyes wide with surprise.

Sirius nods fervently "You showed me that a Muggle-Born could kick a Black's arse in Potions and that made me realize for the first time that a wizard is a wizard and a witch is a witch, no matter what."

Lily stares at him intently and for the first time in her life she sees Sirius through James' eyes. An intelligent boy, a brave man, a loyal friend, _her best mate._

"You are a true witch" he repeats.

"Thanks, Padfoot" she says, calling him with his nickname for the very first time "You are a true Gryffindor" she adds, pressing a small kiss on his cheek.

James spots them and lets out an 'OI' with fake rage.

"Get your dirty hands off my girlfriend, you, ungrateful dog!"

Sirius grins "Jealous, Potter?" before pinning James down to the floor and starting a wrestling match with his best friend.

Lily rolls her eyes, but she smiles fondly at the sight. _Thanks, Padfoot_ , she repeats to herself.

She is not so afraid anymore and she will call him 'Padfoot' for the rest of her life.


	3. Chapter 3

**Five Things about Regulus Black and Quidditch that nobody knew**

He tries out as Seeker for the Slytherin Team because Sirius is already a beater for Gryffindor and he really wants a good excuse to kick his brother ass – _he also hopes that they will have something to talk about at Christmas_.

The morning of his first game, he is actually very calm. He will vomit later, when the game is already finished, the gold Snitch still in his grip.

When Sirius is expelled from his Team, Regulus feels relieved. He doesn't know why his brother was kicked out –something about Severus and a murder attempt- but he knows that Dumbledore only forgave him because he just run away. Regulus is only glad that he won't have to dodge those damn Bludgers the whole game again. _He wonders if he'll ever speak to his brother again._ He doesn't.

He hates Potter beyond human comprehension. In his sixth year, when they are both Captain of their respective teams, he refuses to shake the other boy's hand during the final match Slytherin-Gryffindor valid for the Cup. Everybody thinks that's because the other boy is a famous Blood-traitor, but Regulus actually meets his brother's gaze and knows Sirius can tell. They lose.

He actually wants to ask Sirius to perform the Permanent Sticking Charm for the picture of his team. It takes him a whole minute to realize that his brother is gone.

 **The Untold**

James can actually understand why Sirius did it. What he cannot understand is how he could be so selfish, so stupid, so unnervingly _Sirius_.

"I told him I'm sorry" says Black –James has to make an effort to think about his best mate as Black, but he is just _that_ mad.

"You are _not_!" James retorts viciously. He is not, he thinks. He wanted Sni-Severus dead, he wanted to kill him, because Regulus is hanging around with him. He is not sorry. Maybe he didn't want Remus to get involved but he is not sorry. He is _not_.

"What do you want me to say?" snaps Sirius and James finally loses it. It's not what Sirius is saying, is the way he is saying it. Like the rules –no, _the law_ \- does not matter, like he is above it, like he is…

"The fucking prince of Grimmauld Place!" James shouts "That's what you are! You are a _Black!_ And you don't bloody care if Remus is your best friend, if Snivellus… "

Sirius –no, _Black_ \- pales suddenly, pulling out his wand.

"What did you say, _Potter_?" he whispers and James has never been so afraid in his entire life. Not because he thinks he is in danger, but because Sirius really reminds him of the Death Eaters, of how he imagines them –aristocratic fools with a lot of magical knowledge and that crazy glint in their eyes. Sirius, his best mate. The boy who has been shouting in his sleep for the past three months, calling _Mother_ desperately. The person James loves the most in his entire life.

He is not afraid of death. But he bloody, utterly, afraid of losing Sirius.

"I am not-" Sirius starts. He trails off, waving his hand dismissively. "I hate Sinivellus" he spats "I hate Remus" he says incoherently "I hate _you!"_

(James is starting to understand but he doesn't want to be Sirius' baby-sitter anymore.)

 _You hate yourself._

"And then get yourself lost!" he shouts "I don't want to have anything to do anymore, I don't want you to have anything to do with _Remus_ anymore!"

"Just for Snivellus?"

"This is not about bloody Snivellus!"

 **Three days later**

"I am sorry" he mutters.

"I know" he replies stiffly.

"I just…" he trails off.

"You just what? You are a bloody idiot who does not think about consequences?" he wishes it was true. He could deal with it. He could forgive idiocy.

"No" he says "No, you are right"

"What about?"

"I am a Black" he says and James has to fight the urge to hug him. Or punch him. He doubts he would be able to do the two things at the same time. "I… I wanted him dead, he and his not minding his own business, his hanging out with-" he stops again.

 _Your brother,_ James fills in for him.

"You are an idiot"

He laughs darkly.

"I should have stopped him, I should have said..."

"You didn't" James whispers "But you came to me, you told _me_ "

He is not looking at Sirius, but he can tell the other boy stiffens. Really, James will never understand why he can frankly admit that he wanted to kill someone, but he is ashamed of crying. Because he was crying. So hard and so much.

"Dumbledore should have expelled you"

"I told him"

"…"

"You did?"

"I almost made my best friend a murderer"

"You came to _me_ " James repeats and he does not know why he is bloody comforting Sirius when he should be kicking his stupid ass.

"What did Dumbledore say?" He asks suddenly.

Sirius lowers his gaze. _You cried in front of Dumbledore, too._

"That he understood" he replies softly "That I had gone through a lot… That I didn't deserve expulsion, but that I deserve something much more difficult…"

"Typical shitty Dumbledore talking"

"Something like that, yeah"

"Remus has forgiven you"

"He was never really mad at him"

"I am" he replies.

"I _was_ " he corrects.

 **Lily VI**

She doesn't really like Potter, ok.

But that does not mean she cannot like Remus or be friendly to him. After all, he is a fellow Prefect and he is not that bad when he is apart from his moronic friends.

And that does not prevent her from shouting at the top of her lungs when Potter scores, because that means Gryffindor winning and she is a proud Gryffindor.

It does not even prevent her from tutoring Potter in Potions. She is just doing it because she does not want to blow up in the Dungeons.

And surely it does not mean she cannot answer Black's stupid questions about motorcycles or smile fondly when he says "Brilliant!" his eyes sparkling with excitement. Because, really, she does not smile fondly at Black, as if he is some kind of furry puppy. That's Dorcas talking and she is so desperately in love with him that she spent half of her Charms O.W.L. looking dreamingly at his back. Not that Black would have noticed.

" _You look at him like he is a puppy dog who managed not to ruin your furniture!"_

" _I look at him every time he manages not to blow the Common Room up and congratulate myself for distracting him enough!"_

And that does not mean she cannot be friends with Peter, he going out with Mary and all that stuff.

No, Lily _does not like_ Potter.

She kind of _tolerates_ him.

"Looking at James again?" Mary grins, her eyes shining almost as the June sun. That is, as much as shining the sun can be in Bloody Scotland.

Lily rolls her eyes "No, I am not looking at _Potter_ "

"You like him"

"You just want me to go on double dates with you and Peter" Lily retorts.

Mary shrugs "Maybe" she replies "But that does not mean you don't fancy him."


End file.
